Monday, December 03, 2012 (read 438 times)

A Guide to Salamanca City

by Lauren

The beautiful city of Salamanca is situated in reach of the capital city of Madrid. If you are flying to Madrid airport, you can either catch the train or book a coach. The journey lasts just under 3 hours with either mode of transport. There is an airport in Valladolid which is much closer to Salamanca however there are fewer direct flights to this airport and you will almost certainly find it more expensive. The weather in summer is very warm with temperatures reaching up to 35 and 40 degrees sometimes. The summer in Salamanca lasts right up until September, however when October comes, the weather can change dramatically.

Best Time to Come

Around Christmas time daytime temperatures are around 10 degrees and at nighttime temperatures may sink as low as 2 or 3 degrees so pack your scarf and gloves! If you are just visiting Salamanca, the best time to come is undoubtedly during the second week of September. The city is at its liveliest around this time – international students flood the city for the start of classes and Salamanca has its festival: The Virgen de la Vega. There is a whole week of events including free concerts every evening in the Plaza Mayor and clusters of “Casetas” on every corner. These are little huts selling food and drink.

You Can See It All in One Day

If you are wondering how long to spend in this Spanish city, it really depends on whether you want to pack as much into one day as possible, or if you want to go at a more leisurely pace. For example, strictly speaking, it is possible to see all the main tourist attractions in one day. Even so, it is such a picturesque little city, all sandstone buildings and cobbled streets that it is certainly worth spending at least two days. There are plenty of hotels to choose from in the city of Salamanca so that you have everything on your doorstep. A great little street is Calle San Pablo because you have a monastery at one end of the street and the Plaza Mayor at the other. There is also a cute little shop selling one-off jewellery and knick-knacks and a Belgian chocolate shop too!

Things to See & Do

Arguably, one of the first things to do is to hop on the little white train which takes you round the city centre – that way you can get an idea of where everything is and where you want to go. You can pick up the train from just outside the cathedral. The train drops you back where you picked it up, outside the cathedral. While you’re here, it is worth taking a look at the mind-blowing architecture. Also, if you look very carefully, there is an astronaut sculpted on the left hand-side of the door which is curious given that the cathedral was built in the 16th Century! You don’t have to spend very long in Salamanca to realize that their national symbol is a frog. There are pictures of frogs everywhere – especially on merchandise in touristy areas. You can buy everything from a t-shirt with a picture of a frog on it to a necklace with a frog pendant. The frog is considered lucky in Salamanca. The frog-craze began hundreds of years ago due to the fact that there is a frog sculpted onto the front of the Universidad Civil. It is quite hard to spot it and it is supposed to bring luck to students in their exams if they can find it!

Those All Important Refreshments!

The plaza mayor is a lovely place to sip a coffee and people watch. It is famously the most beautiful plaza mayor in the whole of Spain and when you see it for the first time it is truly breathtaking. It may be advisable to have breakfast in the plaza mayor or perhaps sample some ice cream rather than going there for dinner as the restaurants are rather expensive and not always of the highest quality. When visiting Spain, it is a MUST to have tapas at least twice! The best places, as always, are tucked away – Don Quijote café is located in Calle de Serranos – the selection of tapas here, although quite limited, changes on a daily basis. Typical things they serve are quiche´s (there is a spinach and cheese quiche which is especially nice) and Panini’s which is always a safe option if you´re not sure what to choose! Café Fígaro can be found in Calle del Rector Tovar and has a much wider selection of Tapas that are still very cheap – all well under €5.00.

Spanish Courses in Salamanca

Salamanca is a world-renowned university city and there are Spanish schools around every corner. Hundreds of students come to Salamanca each year because of the pure form of the language spoken by the locals. Therefore, if you are coming to Salamanca for an extended period of time, why not enroll in a Spanish language course?